Every day I experience life in the world of healthcare IT, supporting 3000 doctors, 18000 faculty, and 3 million patients. In this blog I record my experiences with infrastructure, applications, policies, management, and governance as well as muse on such topics such as reducing our carbon footprint, standardizing data in healthcare, and living life to its fullest.

Sunday, August 6, 2017

Unity Farm and Sanctuary Guest Post

Over the past few weeks I've been writing a few journal articles and finishing a book, so my blog posts have waned. They will start again soon. In the meantime, my mother is visiting and here is her guest post.

Dagmar Halamka's farm notes from August 4,2017 and August 5, 2017.

The beauty here is infinite - wildflowers everywhere, bee colonies in colorful hives, gushing fountains in ponds with swimming ducks and geese and vast amounts of greenery because of the frequent rain. 60 acres of enchanted forest that even "House and Garden" magazine could not duplicate surround the farm. Roosters begin crowing about 4:30am. A very slow moving freight train provides a marvelous whistle several times a day as it moves through the countryside.

Today was Blueberry picking day at Unity Farm. It’s hard work! An hour and a half of picking rendered one bucket (I ate a "few"). I am renegotiating my contract!

Palmer, the turkey, followed us around all day - wherever we went. He extends his plumage often so we can admire how grand he is. When I returned with the blueberries, ALL the geese greeted me with extensive honks (males) and hinks (females). I think they believed I had food for them.

Then planting time arrived - I planted 45 lettuce seeds. Really easy since John had already provided the soil blocks.

We streamed "Lion" yesterday evening. I highly recommend it. A beautiful story with an
endearing plot theme.

We visited the new "age restricted" (over 55) condominiums at Abbey Road - just 500 yards from Unity Farm on the trails through the sanctuary. I was immediately surprised by the Revolutionary W War era cemetery in the front of the development.

Tuesday, the local Garden club will come to Unity Farm for a potluck. Kathy admitted they will
market living in Sherborn to me.

Who knew that a machine existed to wash eggs - with an alkaline egg wash solution? The next step is to brush each one with a toothbrush and finally float them in a sink of water to determine if they sink or not (don’t eat the ones that float). We washed 10 dozen eggs.

I decided to walk to the post office (and to treat myself to ice cream at the C and L Frosty). I was sauntering back when a torrential rainstorm appeared, seemingly out of nowhere. Kathy drove down in the car and truly rescued me.

Dinner with John’s daughter was at a Japanese restaurant in Wellesley. They lived
there before moving to Sherborn. So it has sentimental memories for her. She loves her job at "Game Stop"- especially interacting with all the customers.